Climate Works Foundation

ClimateWorks Foundation is a San Francisco headquartered global philanthropic network organized to fund projects addressing climate change. Their goal is to work with the top-emitting nations to build low-carbon energy policies and to reduce the rate of deforestation in the world’s largest, most threatened tropical forests. As of October 2008 the foundation was in the process of recruiting its initial senior staff and its website is still being developed.

Background
In 2007, six foundations, Hewlett, Packard, Oak, Doris Duke, Joyce, and Energy Foundation commissioned research, titled Design to Win: Philanthropy's Role in the Fight Against Global Warming, to identify the most effective approach, by sector and country, to start rapidly reducing global carbon emissions. Based on the recommendations of this study, the Hewlett Foundation together with Packard Foundation and McKnight Foundation provided the initial commitment to launch the ClimateWorks Foundation.

Design to Win
The Design to Win (DTW) study produced information on the role of philanthropic organizations in the fight against global climate change. It was written by scientists from the consulting group California Environmental Associates, an organization that has worked with a "wide range of businesses, nonprofits, foundations and public institutions with strategic consulting, environmental management, policy analysis, regulatory compliance and sustainable business solutions." The DTW study aimed at outlining how best philanthropic organizations could allocate their resources and prioritize initiatives in the fight against global climate change.

The DTW study outlined five principal conclusions:


 * "Efforts in a half dozen countries/regions-the U.S., E.U., China, India, and Latin America-along with work to stem tropical deforestation, can deliver the reductions in carbon emissions necessary for averting a global climate catastrophe.
 * The carbon battle cannot be won in the next decade, but it can be lost. Locking in bad decisions today will make the future job insuperably difficult.  In particular, building more conventional coal power plants, developing inefficient cities in China, and continuing high rates of deforestation during the next 10 years would cause irrecoverable damage.
 * Policy is the key to transformation. The global energy economy is a $4 trillion business, and energy infrastructure investments (capital investments in power plants, oil wells, etc.) are of similar magnitude. Only sound policy can shift capital flows from dirty to clean alternatives.
 * Policy advocacy in the energy arena has been very successful when pursued with care and diligence, but current efforts are inadequate."

Based on report's recommendations, the Hewlett Foundation together with Packard Foundation and McKnight Foundation provided the initial commitment to launch ClimateWorks Foundation.

Contact information
465 California Street, 11th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone: 415 433 0500 Email: info AT climateworks.org Website: http://www.climateworks.org/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Design to Win: Philanthropy's Role in the Fight Against Global Warming
 * Hewlett Foundation
 * Packard Foundation